


Rinse, Repeat (The TGIF Remix)

by heyjupiter



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alcohol, M/M, Remix, Time Loop
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-17
Updated: 2018-09-17
Packaged: 2019-07-10 09:35:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,320
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15946649
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heyjupiter/pseuds/heyjupiter
Summary: It's hard to say which task will be more difficult for Bruce and Tony: figuring out a way to break the Asgardian time loop curse that's been placed upon the team, or learning how to express their feelings to each other like adults.





	Rinse, Repeat (The TGIF Remix)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [beemotionpicture](https://archiveofourown.org/users/beemotionpicture/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Rinse, Repeat](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15477219) by [beemotionpicture](https://archiveofourown.org/users/beemotionpicture/pseuds/beemotionpicture). 
  * In response to a prompt by [beemotionpicture](https://archiveofourown.org/users/beemotionpicture/pseuds/beemotionpicture) in the [remixrevivalmadness2018](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/remixrevivalmadness2018) collection. 



> A remix of flytling's super fun time loop story, [Rinse, Repeat](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15477219).
> 
> Thanks to volunteerfd for beta reading!

**Day 2**

Tony sat up in bed with a gasp. He'd dreamt again of being adrift, alone, in space. He'd had the same nightmare yesterday. He had the same nightmare a lot of nights.

The light of his arc reactor was enough for him to see that he was safely in his bedroom at Avengers Tower. As in his dream, he was alone, though. He didn't blame Pepper for leaving, but he truly hated to sleep alone.

Blearily, he tapped his watch and checked his calendar. It was 5:45am on Friday, September 13th. His schedule was again completely clear for the day, no annoying meetings or lunch dates. No reason at all to get out of bed, certainly not at that ungodly hour. He stretched and rolled over, burying his face in his pillow. If he was tired enough, sometimes he could manage to fall back to sleep after waking up from a nightmare, but this morning his mind wouldn’t stop racing. Finally, he asked, "JARVIS?"

"Yes, sir?"

"Is anyone else up?"

"Captain Rogers is in the gym." Tony groaned. Of _course_ he was. "And Dr. Banner is in the kitchen."

Tony brightened. He could go keep Bruce company. "Thanks, J." He pulled on a clean black T-shirt over his plaid pajama bottoms and made his way to the kitchen, where he found Bruce sitting at the kitchen table. Bruce was fully dressed in khakis and an Oxford shirt, with a half-empty mug of tea and a book. 

"Hey, Bruce."

Bruce looked up from his book. "Oh, hey, Tony."

"You're up early."

Bruce shrugged. "I like the early morning. It's quiet."

Tony flinched. Unlike Tony, Bruce was apparently alone by choice. “Sorry. I'll leave you alone, then."

"No--no, sorry, I didn't mean--" Visibly flustered, Bruce gestured toward the windows. "I mean the city, it's quiet. I like it. And the sunrise is…you don't have to--you're up early. For you. Is everything okay?"

"Just couldn't sleep, I guess." Tony busied himself with making coffee. "Thank God it's Friday, right?"

"Hmm, is it Friday? I thought yesterday was Friday."

Now that Bruce mentioned it, that did sound right. Maybe Tony had misread the calendar in his pre-coffee haze. Aloud, he asked, "JARVIS, what day is it?" 

"Today is Friday, September 13th."

"Huh," Bruce said. "Well, I guess it's easy to lose track of time around here." He returned his gaze to his book.

Tony poured himself a mug of coffee and watched Bruce for a moment. When he and Bruce were working together on a project, they didn’t usually start until around 10am, since Tony wasn’t usually up and moving until then. Bruce didn’t seem especially talkative at the moment. Tony reluctantly decided not to interfere with whatever Bruce’s early morning routine was. One of the many grievances Pepper had raised when she left was that Tony spent too much time talking and not enough time listening. Tony didn’t think that was fair, because he knew that he always listened, even if he multitasked. But he really didn’t want to give Bruce cause to feel the same way. Tony needed all the friends he could get.

"Well, I'll be in my workshop," he said. 

“Wait--did you want a yogurt? There’s one left, but Steve will probably eat it after he’s done in the gym if you don’t.”

Tony considered. “What kind?”

“Peach.”

“Nah, Steve can have it.”

“You should eat something, though.”

“I’ve still got some trail mix in the workshop.”

Bruce nodded. “Okay, see you in a bit.”

Bruce had initially been hesitant to stay at Avengers Tower after the Chitauri invasion, but Tony had persuaded him with promises of a top of the line lab and a quiet, indestructible place to sleep. Tony knew that Bruce was afraid of Hulking out in the city, but Tony himself had full faith in Bruce's self-control. And now that Bruce was settled in here, Tony truly wasn't sure how he'd managed to get by without him. Bruce was the best lab partner Tony had ever had. He had the rare ability not only to keep up with Tony intellectually, but also keep his patience when Tony got carried away with things, as he had been known to do. Plus, he was often unexpectedly funny.

Ever since Pepper had left, Bruce had also quietly tried his best to make sure Tony did little things like eat and sleep. His efforts were especially notable given that Bruce historically hadn’t always remembered to feed himself. The pair of them combined made two great scientists and maybe three-fourths of a functional human adult. But as a result of their shared efforts, they were getting by.

Tony took his coffee and flopped on the couch in the corner of his workshop. He threw information about all of his in-progress projects on the display screens and studied them, waiting for something to catch his interest. Then he frowned.

"J, make the repulsor cannon Mark VII project fullscreen." He studied the notes and said, "This isn't right. Where's the--yesterday, I know I finished the new casing for that." He stood up and went to the work table he'd been using yesterday, and found...nothing. It was polished clean, although he knew he'd left his partial prototype out. He opened the top drawer and found a full, sealed bag of trail mix, but he knew he'd eaten half of it yesterday. (Mostly the M&Ms.) "What the fuck?" he muttered. "JARVIS, who else has been in here since I left?"

"No one, sir."

"Not even Bruce?" Bruce was the only other person in the Tower who had clearance to enter this workshop on his own, although he usually only came by when Tony was there. Even though Bruce should really know better, maybe he had somehow thought he'd do Tony a favor by tidying up and replenishing his snacks. 

"My records show that Dr. Banner's last visit to this room was yesterday at 10:12am. He left at 8:35pm, the same time that you did."

Yes, Tony remembered. Bruce had made pasta and they'd had a late dinner together. "And no one has been in here since then?"

"Only you, sir, from 9:45pm yesterday until 2:20am this morning.”

"Right. Then--then where's my stuff?"

“I don’t know, sir. Would you like to review security footage from earlier this morning?”

“Maybe? Let me look around a little more first.” Tony was in the process of opening every drawer in the room, just in case, when he heard the door slide open. Despite his frustration, he was still pleasantly surprised to see Bruce again so soon after they’d parted ways in the kitchen.

"Hey, had enough peace and quiet already?" Tony asked.

Bruce licked his lips. There was a wary look in his eyes as he said, "Tony, look, um, I know this is going to sound...insane...but…"

"But you think we're stuck in a Groundhog Day time loop?"

Bruce's eyes widened. "Yes! Or something? Look--this is today's newspaper, it was just delivered. But I know I did this crossword puzzle yesterday. But _this_ is the most recent newspaper in the recycle bin. It's from Thursday." Bruce set the newspapers side by side on Tony's work table, folded open to the crossword puzzles. Tony appreciated that Bruce hadn't handed them to him, especially the one he'd fished out of the trash.

Tony laughed. "You remember the crossword puzzle, but not the headlines?"

Sheepishly, Bruce said, "You know, a lot of the time, the news seems like it's all pretty much the same every day, anyway, but the puzzles…"

Tony nodded. He was charmed that Bruce apparently spent his early mornings working on New York Times crossword puzzles. "Well, I've lost a whole day's progress on that new repulsor cannon prototype I was working on. But on the bright side, I got all my M&Ms back." He held out the full bag of trail mix as proof.

"Is this a nightmare?"

Tony reached out and pinched Bruce's forearm. 

Bruce sighed and rubbed his arm. “I’m awake.”

"Just checking," Tony said with a grin. "Hey, JARVIS, you said today is Friday, September 13th, right?"

"Correct, sir."

"But what day was yesterday?"

After a much longer pause than JARVIS usually needed to answer a simple informational question, JARVIS said, "Sir, there are some gaps in my records, but it would seem that...yesterday was Friday, September 13th."

“That’s...not good,” Bruce said. 

“It could be worse,” Tony replied.

“Don’t say that! That’s tempting fate,” Bruce scolded.

“I just mean--you know, in Groundhog Day, Bill Murray was the only one. If nothing else, at least we’re both stuck.”

Bruce nodded. “That’s true, I guess. And it's not February."

"So we're doing great, really."

"Should we go see what day the rest of the team thinks it is?”

“Yeah, I guess we should,” Tony said, thankful that, whatever was happening, he didn’t have to go through it alone.

* * *

**Day 8**

"Thank God it's Friday," Tony announced as he and Bruce entered the common room after another long, ultimately fruitless day in the workshop. Most of the Avengers rolled their eyes, but beside him, Bruce managed a small laugh. Bolstered by that, Tony continued, "It is, you know, it's our 8th Friday, which makes it like, the Friday of Fridays. We should have a party."

"Not another movie night, please," Nat said.

"Surely there can't be _that_ many movies about people stuck in time loops?" Steve asked. 

"Edge of Tomorrow was pretty good, though," Clint said.

"Not a movie night. A _party_."

"We may as well," Thor said. "Amora has placed this time loop curse upon us to break our spirits. We must resist her efforts!"

"Thor's just hoping you'll put out the good whiskey," Clint said. 

"You say that like I have any bad whiskey," Tony countered.

"Some of it's definitely better than the rest, though," Nat said. 

"Well, we might as well drink it, since it'll replenish itself in the morning," Tony said.

"Damn, I can't believe it took me eight days to think of that," Clint said.

"Technically, Tony thought of it," Bruce said. Tony loved how Bruce always had his back. 

"Also, it's not like you _haven't_ been drinking the good whiskey," Nat said.

"Whatever, the point is, I'm in," Clint said.

"I'll order pizza," Tony said. The curse they were under could have been worse--it affected only the six of them, but they could still interact with the outside world. For the Avengers, the pizza place was going to have the exact same daily special for the next 92 days. As far as Tony understood what Thor had explained, everyone else would wake up after 100 days on Saturday, September 14th with no memories of or permanent changes caused by any of the previous Fridays. Only the six of them would remember what had happened. Apparently the monotony of the curse had been known to make beings lose their sanity. Fortunately, Tony was pretty good at keeping himself entertained.

Tony hated Asgardian magic, but he loved an excuse for a party. 

As far as parties went, this one was pretty low-key. It was probably the smallest party Tony had ever attended, and one of the saddest. JARVIS was playing a kick-ass playlist, but everyone was just standing around, like a junior high dance with too many chaperones.

After topping off everyone's drinks, he sidled up next to Bruce, who was awkwardly sitting alone on the couch, sipping a can of seltzer and playing a game on his phone.

"Sure you don't want anything harder to drink?" he asked.

"No thanks," Bruce said politely. He’d always declined drinks on other occasions, and Tony hadn’t pressed him. Bruce had been a skittish houseguest from the start, and Tony had been hoping to keep him around for awhile. But tonight, Tony let his curiosity get the better of him. He’d been trying so hard to get the reserved scientist to come out of his shell. He’d made some definite headway, but his progress was frustratingly slow. He had a hypothesis that applying a moderate amount of alcohol to the situation would help. 

"Because of the Other Guy?"

"I guess mostly, yeah."

"But this is your perfect chance. Even _if_ your green friend comes out to play, which I don't believe he will, all the damage he does will be undone in like three hours."

Bruce looked horrified. "He could hurt someone!"

"That will be un-done too. Remember when I burned my hand on the welding torch yesterday?" It had been a fairly minor burn; left to his own devices, Tony would have probably ignored it and kept working. Bruce had expertly wrapped it with gauze and medical tape. Now, Tony held out his unwrapped, completely healed hand for Bruce to examine. 

Bruce lightly stroked Tony’s palm with his thumb, a thoughtful expression on his face. “Still…."

Teasingly, Tony said, "You could consider it a scientific experiment, about the effects of alcohol on your superhuman metabolism."

"This isn't exactly a controlled environment."

"C'mon, you heard Thor. We have to keep our morale up or that evil enchantress will win."

"My morale is fine."

"It could be higher," Tony said. "And this is _very_ good whiskey."

"I guess one drink wouldn't hurt," Bruce said after a long pause.

"That's the spirit! Get it? Spirit?"

"I get it."

Tony poured a glass for Bruce and then held up his own in a toast. "To Saturday!"

"To Saturday," Bruce echoed, clinking his glass. Tony watched Bruce take a sip. Bruce licked his lips. 

"Good, right?" Tony asked.

"Yeah," Bruce agreed.

"Better than seltzer?"

"I like seltzer," Bruce said. But he kept sipping the whiskey. 

Tony liked watching Bruce drink. His face grew visibly more relaxed. His eyes were bright and his cheeks were flushed. As the night went on, Bruce talked more than Tony had ever heard him in one sitting, sharing more sly jokes and observations, passionately defending the merits of the original cast of Star Trek, and even complimenting Tony’s taste in music, which he'd never done before. 

"Wow, Bruce, I should have gotten out the whiskey for you before," Tony said. He felt pleasantly tipsy, but not drunk. They’d been sipping their drinks, not drinking to get drunk the way Tony used to.

"Sorry," Bruce said.

"No, don't--don't be sorry. I just mean--it's just nice seeing you having a good time."

Bruce blinked. "I always have a good time with you, Tony."

"Surely not always. I've heard I talk too much, you must get sick of me sometimes."

"Hey! No! Don't say that!" Bruce was more animated than usual, raising his voice and talking with his hands. If his glass hadn't been empty, he would have been splashing whiskey on the couch. "You're the best!"

"Okay, buddy," Tony said with a fond smile. "Maybe you should switch back to seltzer?"

"I'm not drunk!" 

"Okay."

"I'm not, I'm just…" Bruce trailed off and licked his lips. Tony stared at Bruce's lips. Bruce said, "Tony, I…"

"Yeah?"

"I like your face."

Tony laughed. "I like your face, too, Bruce." 

Bruce yawned in response, then mumbled, “Sorry.”

Tony looked around the room and saw that the rest of the team was engaged in a drunk, cut-throat game of Mario Kart. He put a hand on Bruce's knee and said, "Maybe we should get you to bed?"

"Bed sounds good," Bruce agreed. Bruce stood up and seemed steady on his feet, but he didn’t protest when Tony wrapped an arm around him and gently escorted him out of the common room. 

Tony hesitated in the doorway of Bruce's bedroom. He hoped he hadn't been misreading Bruce. Tony could usually tell when people were attracted to him (and people usually _were_ ), but Bruce was so shy and yet so inherently kind that there seemed to be a definite chance that Bruce only thought of Tony as a good friend. "I--I hope you had fun tonight."

"Could be more fun," Bruce suggested. He put his arms around Tony's neck, bringing his full lips extremely close to Tony's mouth. 

"Bruce, are--" Tony started to ask, and then Bruce's mouth was over his, and Tony forgot what he'd been going to say.

They stumbled the rest of the way into Bruce's room and collapsed onto the bed in a tangle. Bruce tasted like expensive whiskey and smelled like peppermint soap and felt exactly like Tony had imagined he would.

After several moments that Tony wouldn’t mind re-living, Tony pulled back to catch his breath. He ran a possessive finger over a smooth spot past Bruce's chest hair, where a hickey had bloomed above his collarbone. "I guess it's a good thing everything will reset at midnight, or our teammates would have some questions about this," he said.

Bruce looked down at his chest, then looked into Tony's eyes and smiled. "I don't care what anyone says." His voice was husky--Tony wasn't sure if it was from alcohol, tiredness, or lust, but he liked it. Bruce put his index finger on Tony's arc reactor and said, "You're a good night light, Tony." Then he laid his head down on a pillow and fell asleep immediately.

Tony laughed quietly. He pulled the duvet up over Bruce and sat on the edge of the bed for a moment, listening to Bruce’s soft, even breathing. He supposed he should go back to his room, but...Tony really hated to sleep alone. And Bruce had said he was a good night light, which was pretty much an invitation to stay. Plus, it would be a good experiment. He wasn't sure if the time loop would somehow transport him back to his own bed by morning. 

"Lights out, JARVIS," Tony whispered, and then he crawled under the duvet beside Bruce and fell into a sound sleep.

* * *

**Day 9**

Tony was momentarily disoriented when he woke up and found himself in a different room than usual. Then he rolled over and saw Bruce curled up beside him, and he remembered the previous night with a smile. Maybe the next 91 days wouldn't be so terrible.

It was earlier than Tony usually got up, earlier even than Bruce usually got up, but Tony felt well-rested and ready to start his day. He and Bruce had both fallen asleep well before midnight. Now, Bruce looked so peaceful that Tony couldn't bear to wake him. Instead, he slipped out of bed, pulled his shirt back on, and made his way to the kitchen. He would definitely beat Steve to the last yogurt this morning. He thought about making tea for Bruce, but he suspected that Bruce was particular about that, and Tony didn't know the details.

Tony was sitting at the kitchen table with a nearly empty mug of coffee when Bruce came in and started making tea. Tony attempted to observe the process for future reference.

"Good morning, sunshine," he said.

"Hey, you're up early," Bruce remarked offhandedly.

"Yeah. I think I'm actually grateful for the time loop--it's the best hangover cure I've ever found."

"Ha, yeah, I guess you're right. I can't remember the last time I drank like that," Bruce said with a rueful head shake. 

Tony laughed. Bruce had had two drinks. Maybe two and a half. "Maybe you should try it more often."

"Oh, I don't know about that," Bruce said. 

What did Bruce mean by that? Did he mean literally no more drinking, or did he mean no more Tony? Were the two things linked?

Hesitantly, he said, "Last night was good, though, right?"

Bruce shrugged. "Yeah, I guess."

Tony was glad that Bruce was still standing at the tea kettle with his back turned. He was stunned by Bruce's cold response and needed a moment to compose his face. He'd thought that Bruce kept his feelings tightly controlled, but maybe Bruce just didn't have any feelings for Tony at all.

Bruce finished preparing his tea and sat down across from Tony. He was wearing an old, baggy T-shirt, and Tony couldn't stop staring at the space above Bruce's collarbone. Last night it had been marked with evidence that Tony's mouth had been there, and this morning it was wiped clean. Apparently that was how Bruce wanted it to be.

Bruce noticed him staring and said, "Sorry, I think this might be your shirt?" He took the teabag out of his mug and rested it on a saucer.

"What? Oh, no, it's--it's fine," Tony said. He hadn't left any clothes in Bruce's room. Was it Thor's? Was Bruce just casually taking all the Avengers to bed and thinking nothing of it?

"I did a load of laundry yesterday...I mean, real yesterday, Thursday, and I just threw in some stuff that was on the floor in the laundry room."

"Ah." Maybe it was Tony’s shirt after all, although it didn’t look familiar. But the shirt didn’t matter. What mattered was that Bruce seemed to want to pretend like last night hadn’t happened. Tony had certainly had his share of awkward post-one night stand mornings, although he wasn't used to being the one cast aside. And he’d certainly never before been in a situation where he was going to have to relive the same morning 91 more times. They hadn’t even had sex. It had been a PG-rated one night stand, but Tony had really hoped it would lead to something more. Apparently Bruce didn’t feel the same.

“Hey, are you hungry? There’s still yogurt,” Tony offered.

“Oh, no thanks.”

Tony supposed this might be his karmic due for, well, all of his twenties. And his thirties. Tony knew he had a lot of shitty post-one night stand behavior to atone for, but he’d kind of thought that maybe he’d somehow paid for all that when Pepper left? If not then, then maybe somehow when he’d saved New York? Maybe that wasn’t how any of this worked. Maybe he deserved this horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach.

But maybe Bruce was just feeling shy? Tony stood up from the table. On his way to the coffee pot, he paused behind Bruce and started to give him a casual shoulder rub. Bruce tensed and shied away from his touch. Tony felt like he’d been slapped.

“Sorry,” Tony mumbled. “I just--I’ll just be in my workshop if you need me.”

“Okay,” Bruce said absently. 

Tony refilled his mug and took it to his workshop. Thor had said their time loop would end naturally after 100 days, but Tony hated the thought of wasting that much time. He was really hoping to find a way to break it sooner. It was a particularly challenging project, since any tangible work he did would be erased in sixteen hours. Still, he retained his memories from his past efforts, so it wasn't completely starting from scratch. He’d been exploring some interesting theories that might allow them to break the time loop, if he could figure out a practical application and a way to build a complete working device within 24 hours, before their day reset. If he and Bruce could work together, they'd have a fighting chance at figuring this whole thing out. But the hours went by and Bruce never came.

Finally, Tony gave up and went to the common room. “Thank God it’s Friday,” he said with forced cheer. Bruce barely looked up from the game of chess he was playing with Natasha.

Tony played a few hands of poker with the rest of the team before excusing himself and going to bed early. Somehow, his bed felt emptier than ever. 

* * *

**Day 72**

After another long, lonely day in his workshop, Tony strolled into the common room and threw his arms open wide in a dramatic pose. “Thank God it’s Friday!” he sang out. 

Bruce looked up from the card game in progress and said, “Tony, please shut the fuck up.”

Tony had been in a terrible mood for weeks. He’d been working as many hours as he could, barely sleeping, and only coming into the common room when he was forced to admit defeat for the day. He was absolutely starved for company. Bruce hardly ever dropped into his workshop anymore. Tony had had at least 50 identical phone conversations with Rhodey, and he was sure that Rhodey was fed up with him even if Rhodey couldn’t remember the other 49 conversations. Even JARVIS seemed sick of Tony. 

He couldn’t pretend he hadn’t been trying to provoke a response from his teammates every chance he got. If he tried, he could usually get Clint or Nat to half-heartedly oblige him with some kind of mildly entertainingly squabble, but Bruce had remained perfectly calm and aloof for weeks. As if nothing Tony did mattered to him at all. 

Now Bruce looked at him. There was no hint of green in his eyes, but there was...something. Some emotion. It might just have been annoyance. 

“I was starting to think maybe you liked this constant Friday situation,” Tony said. “Since I’m the only one who’s trying to fix it.”

“Of course we’re all tired of it being Friday, but we’re just trying to make the best of it,” Steve said. 

“Tony, you know there’s nothing we can do. It’s Asgardian magic, we just have to let the curse ride its course,” Bruce said patiently. “I know you can’t wait to break this curse so you can get back in touch with your other friends, but it seems like a lot of pointless work to me, with very little chance of a payoff and a lot of chance of something going extremely wrong.”

“Banner is correct,” Thor said. “Amora is an extremely powerful enchantress. And there’s really no permanent harm being done. For her, this is...mere mischief. I will address her behavior with Odin once the 100 days have passed and we return to a standard progression of time.”

“Bullshit,” Tony replied. “Bruce, don’t you remember how we met? Using our combined scientific prowess to beat Asgardian magic?”

“Well...that was different. The stakes were different. Besides, gamma radiation was one thing but...time travel?” He shook his head. “None of my degrees are in time travel.”

“I never figured you for a quitter,” Tony said. “I hate being wrong.”

Bruce took a deep, level breath. Tony saw Natasha give him a cautious sidelong glance. Bruce put down his cards and said, “I fold. I think I need some fresh air.”

Exhaustion and loneliness made Tony decide to push his luck. He said, “Great idea! I could use a walk.”

Bruce shrugged, which wasn’t a “no,” so Tony followed him to the elevator and out the door. They walked down the street quietly for a few blocks. 

When Tony couldn’t take the silence any longer, he started to sing, badly, “It’s Friday, Friday, gotta get down on Friday.”

Bruce stopped short and grabbed Tony by the shoulders. He shook him roughly once and then took a step back. Tony could tell by Bruce’s face that Bruce was as surprised with himself as Tony was.

“Sorry,” Bruce mumbled, shoving his hands into his pockets. “I’m so sorry. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, fine," Tony said, forcing a smile. Bruce's outburst had been startling, but he hadn't put any real force into it. Even when he lost his temper, Bruce had remarkable self-control. "I've been working out with Cap, you know." That was perhaps the truest sign of how bored Tony had been; he'd been hitting the gym even though his body wouldn't see any lasting benefits from it.

"Okay. Good. Sorry. But God, just--Tony, please, why are you doing this? You _know_ I hate to Hulk out.” For someone whose alter ego could have just easily snapped Tony's neck if he'd wanted to, Bruce now looked remarkably like a kicked puppy. Tony felt an unwanted burst of protectiveness. Even though Bruce didn’t seem to care how badly his abandonment had hurt Tony, Tony still didn't want to give Bruce a reason to make that face.

“I know,” Tony said reassuringly. “You’re nowhere close to going green.”

“I just--that night, the 8th Friday, you said it wouldn’t matter if I Hulked out, because everything would just reset, and ever since then, you’ve been trying to get under my skin.”

Tony stared at him in disbelief. “Is--is that what you think?”

Bruce crossed his arms. “Look, I know it sucks for you to be trapped here with just the five of us for company, but I really didn’t want to bring the Other Guy out just to entertain you. Maybe it's just an interesting experiment to you, but for me it’s...it’s terrible.”

“You--Bruce, I’m sorry but I can’t believe you think that. I--I know I’ve been making dumb jokes and stuff, but--that thing I said about the Hulk, I was just hoping you’d relax a little. I would never intentionally try to get you to Hulk out. I know you’re strong enough that you’re not going to lose your cool over a little Rebecca Black serenade.”

“...Oh.” Now Bruce looked as confused as Tony felt.

“To be honest, Bruce--well, it kind of hurts that you’d think that of me." Tony knew that most people thought of him as a shallow playboy, but he’d thought that Bruce knew him better than that. 

"What was I supposed to think? You've always made the jokes, and I don’t mind those, but ever since that night...I mean, it’s been a lot of jokes, but other than that you've been so...cold and distant.”

"Me? Hey, I get it that you want to pretend that nothing happened between us, but--“

“What are you talking about?”

“Yeah, exactly like that,” Tony said drily.

“No, Tony, seriously, what are you talking about?”

Tony looked Bruce in the eye. He looked genuinely bewildered. “Do you really not remember?”

“Remember what?”

“The...the night of party. That we had back on the 8th Friday?”

Bruce stared back. “Yeah, when you told me it was fine if I got drunk and Hulked out because anything the Hulk smashed would just unsmash itself.”

“Okay, yes, sorry, it sounds bad when you say it like that. But, uh, no, after that?”

The confused furrow between Bruce’s eyebrows deepened. Apparently he was really going to make Tony say it. Tony sighed. “After that? When we went to bed together?”

Bruce’s eyes widened. “We did?”

“Yeah, and I--I mean I know I have kind of a reputation, but I really didn’t want it to be a one-night stand type of thing, but then you so clearly just wanted to pretend like it didn’t happen--“

“Tony, please shut the fuck up,” Bruce said for the second time that night. But this time, he followed the statement by kissing Tony. Tony kissed him back enthusiastically, and they stumbled together until Tony was pressing Bruce against the wall of a closed dry cleaners. 

“Get a room!” yelled someone. Tony reluctantly pulled away from Bruce and saw a homeless man sitting in a doorway a few feet away. 

“That is a good idea, actually,” he said. “Don’t you think?”

“Uh-huh,” Bruce said breathlessly.

“You’re welcome,” the homeless man said. He held out his change cup. Tony opened his wallet and pulled out a $100 bill. He hoped the man would spend it soon, because he didn’t have it in him to explain how the money would disappear in a few hours. But then, he wouldn’t remember the money disappearing, either. Tony really hated Asgardian magic.

Tony put his arm around Bruce’s shoulder and said, “Let’s go see about that room, huh?”

“Sounds good.”

As they walked briskly home, Tony thought back to that night and tried to see it through Bruce’s eyes. “I--I’m sorry, by the way, I really didn’t think you’d had that much to drink, that night…l mean, whenever I get blackout drunk, I act like a total idiot. You weren't...you just seemed...happy.” 

“I probably didn’t drink that much, by most standards,” Bruce said. “I’m just...that’s why I don’t usually drink. And--I’m sorry I misinterpreted you. You’ve--you’ve never treated me like I’m an experiment. I guess I just...I don’t know. I guess I always tend to jump to the worst conclusion.”

Tony felt a pang at that. He supposed he hadn’t given Bruce enough data points to draw a better conclusion. He’d been too hurt to try to say anything again after Bruce had rebuffed his early morning shoulder rub. "Um, just to be clear, since you don't remember that night, we didn't--we just kissed, and then you fell asleep. You--you seemed like you were enjoying it, though. I definitely was."

"Oh. Good. I mean I'd hate to forget--I--I’m sure I did. Enjoy it.”

Back at Avengers Tower, Tony hesitated in the doorway to his bedroom. “You are sober, right? I really...need you to remember this in the morning.”

Bruce smiled. “I’ve only been drinking seltzer.”

“With the party and everything...I really just wanted to help you to unwind a little.”

“Hmm...if that's what you want to do, I have some ideas,” Bruce said. He tipped his face toward Tony’s and kissed him. Tony kissed him back hungrily, giving him everything he’d been imagining for the last several weeks. 

* * *

**Day 73**

Tony woke up with his arms wrapped tightly around Bruce. His left arm was asleep, but Tony was well-rested after the best night’s sleep he’d had in weeks. He gently nuzzled his cheek against Bruce’s curls. Bruce rolled over to face him and gave him a shy, hopeful look. He looked content, like someone who had good memories of the previous evening. Tony shook out his arm and tentatively stroked Bruce’s hair.

"God, I've missed you," he murmured.

Bruce made his kicked-puppy face and said, "Oh, Tony, I'm sorry. You must have thought I was such an asshole."

"Hey, no, c'mere," Tony said. He lifted his arm and Bruce hesitantly rested his head on Tony's chest. "I could never think that about you. I just figured you realized you could do better than me," Tony said lightly.

"No way, not possible," Bruce said immediately, his face lit by the glow of the arc reactor. After a moment, he added, "I just...I didn't think...I never thought you could be interested in me...this way."

Tony rubbed Bruce’s shoulders and asked indignantly, "How could I not be? What, you think I'm an idiot? Actually, maybe don't answer that." 

Bruce snorted. "At least we're on the same page now, I guess."

Tony kissed him softly. “Thank God it’s Friday.”

Bruce let out a loud, genuine laugh at the stale joke. The sound made Tony feel warm inside, the opposite of the hollow, empty feeling he’d been walking around with for the last several weeks. 

“Think you can handle 27 more of them?” Tony asked. 

“If they’re all like this, I could take another hundred Fridays.”

“Actually, wait--JARVIS, what day is it?”

“Today is Friday, September 13th.” JARVIS sounded tired, somehow.

“Just checking,” Tony said. “You know, sometimes kisses have been known to break curses.”

“Hmm. Maybe we just haven’t tried hard enough.”

“You’re absolutely right. We need to collect more data.”

In response, Bruce climbed up to straddle Tony and kissed him. Tony wrapped his arms around Bruce and kissed him back, harder. He wasn’t sure they’d make it down to the workshop at all that Friday, but Tony was fine with that. They had important research to conduct right where they were. Besides, he had to agree with Bruce--the way this particular Friday was going, he'd be perfectly happy to re-live it until the time loop ran its course.

* * *

**Day 101**

Although he and Bruce had been up late last night, Tony woke up early. He crept out of bed as quietly as he could, given that he was as excited as a kid on Christmas. He started coffee and tried his best to brew a cup of green tea. Then he stepped out to pick up the just-delivered New York Times. He re-folded the paper and tucked it and a pencil under his arm before bringing the coffee and tea back to bed.

He put the drinks on the nightstand and bent down to kiss Bruce's forehead. "Good morning, sunshine."

Bruce blinked up at him. "Hey, Tony. Is--what day is it?"

Tony smiled and held up the newspaper, folded open to Saturday's crossword puzzle. While they’d seen their online calendars roll over at midnight, the newsprint seemed a much more definitive proof that their eternal Friday had ended. 

Bruce smiled back and sat up in bed. "Guess we really did break the curse."

Tony leaned in and gave him a proper kiss. "Just to be safe, though, we should probably keep kissing each other. You know, to prevent any future curses."

Bruce kissed him back. "You're right, Tony. It's really just a practical safety measure."

"Mm-hmm," Tony said. "It's science."

"I love science."

"I love _you_."

"I love you, too," Bruce said. He kissed Tony again. Then he bit his lip and said, sheepishly, "But I haven't had a fresh New York Times crossword puzzle in 100 days…" 

Tony laughed. "Go ahead, Bruce, that's why I brought it for you. We have this whole Saturday to ourselves, at least until Thor comes back from Asgard with news."

"Thank God." Bruce fumbled for his reading glasses, then leaned his back against Tony's chest and bent his head over the puzzle. Tony sipped his coffee and scrolled through the news. He couldn't wait to see what else this new day had in store for them.


End file.
